Mail-bag catching and delivering apparatus.



W. M. SMITH. MAILBAG OATGHING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS,

Patented Oct/15, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

- W; Smwm W. M.- SMITH". MAIL BAG GATOHING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

' APPLICATION FILED APR. 4, 1912. v 1,041,688, 7 Patented Oct. 15, 1912.

2 SHEETSw' SHBET 2.

. A; W QVF S W WILLIAZ I M. SMETE, 0F BASTEGP, LGUIQIANA, ASQIGNQR 0F ENE-HALF T0 LE'WLLZN BENTLEY, 0F fiASTROP, LOUISIANA.

MAIL-BAG GhTCHING AND DELIVERING- APPARATUS LQQLGSS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented i153, 3912,

Application filed April 4, 1312. Serial No. 638,411.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lVILLIAM M. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bastrop, in the parish of hilorehouse and State oi Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lllail-Bag Catching and Delivering Apparatus; and 1 do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description or the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

T his invention relates to mail bag serving apparatus, and it more particularly relates to railroad mail catching and delivering apparatus.

An object of the inv ntion is to provide means for supporting a mail bag adjacent to a railroad, in the most convenient position and relation to be caught by suitable appliances, carried by a mail car. I

A still further object of the invention is to provide an appliance on a mail car, in the most convenient position and relation to he caught by a suitable appliance, near the railroad.

A still furtherobject of the invention to provide two similar mail bag holders. one of which is carriedby a car, the other being supported adjacent tofatrack on which the car travels, so that the respective mail bags may be exchanged by the two mail bag holders.

A. further object is to provide a stationary mail bag supporter, near a railwayflheposition of which may be adjusted either in a lateral or vertical direction, to suit'varying conditions. r

A still further object is to provide a travcling and reversible mail bag supporter which is equally applicable to either side of a car or to either side of a car door.

A still further object is to provide a car with a. traveling mailbag supporter, and to provide a stationary mail hag supporter adjacent to a track on which the car travels, in such relation that mail bags may be exchanged by the two supporters, regardless of the direction in which the car is traveling.

Further objects and advantages may appear hereinafter and in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application, Figure 1 is a side elevation view of a portion of a mail car, having a traveling mail bag supporter thereon, and a track supporting the car and having a stationary mail bag supporter adacent thereto. Fig. 2 is a horizontal seetional view of a portion of a car on the line 22 of Fig. 1, showing my improved mail servm apparatus applied thereto and to a track on which the car rests, and, Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view on the line 35 of Fig. 1.

dl-eierring to these drawings, in which s milar reference characters correspond with similar parts throughout the sow l-l views, the body of a mail car is designated by the numeral 5, av door postthereolf being designated 6, and to this door post is secured a bracket 7, carrying a vertical pivot 8. on which is rotatably mounted a sleeve 9, which forms a. part of a movable bracket 10. the latterhaving a horizontal arn'i 10 and a down-turned and horizontally flanged end portion 11, the flange thereof being designated 12. V

The horizontal mail bag holders 13, one of which is secured to the flange l2, and at right angles to the arm 10, comprises plates. preterahly of metal having their end portions slotted 14% to a point adjacent to their middle portions, by which they are supported.

The sup 'iorting medium for the mail ban consists ot an elongated member or shanli l5, apertured 1(3 and provided "wit l simi' lar upper and lower enlargements 17 ($011- nected by a neck 18. A strap 19 is engaged by the aperture 16 and embraces the mail 29, thereby securing said mail bag in fixed relation to the shank 15. The latter is then inserted in one of the slots 14. so that the upper enlargement l7 rests upon the furcati-ons of the upper bifurcated holder 13. The other of said bifurcated holders, which we may call the stationary mailbag holder, is supported by an inverted-U-shaped strap of metal, 2-1, which embraces the top part of a post the latter being supported by a pair or stationary brackets 23, fixed adjacent to the track 24: on which the car 5 travels. The post- 22 is provided with a vertical. slot and an arcuate slot 26, through which bolts 2'? and 23 extend, respectively. The bolt- 27 also extends through the vertical sides of the strap 2i which is adapted to be tightened or (damped against the contiguous sides of the post 2:, by means of a nut By loosening the nut 27, the bolt 97 may be moved upward or downward in the s 25, therebyobtaining vertical adjustment of the stationary holder. I

The post- 22 is pivotally connected at 29 to a prop 30 which is fixed with relation to the brackets 23' and it is obvious,- that by loosening the nut 28 the post may be swung on the pivot 29, so that the slot 26 is moved relative to the bolt 28, and the support 13 is moved laterally in a slightly arcuate direction, thereby providing for lateral adjustment of the stationary holder. By tightening the nut 28, the brackets 23 are caused to clamp the contiguous sides of the post 22, thereby holding 1t in adjusted position. Said adjustment may be found necessary for various conditions, such as variation in the speed of mail trains, curvature of track, etc.; the effect of such conditions being well known by those acquainted withthe art. A band 31 may surround the' post 22 and strap 21, at any convenient point, for holding said post and strap in the proper relation. while being adjusted and clamped together.

A keeper 32, having an aperture 33 in the bottom thereof, may be secured to the side of a car, adjacent to the door post 6, by any proper means. Pivotally connected to the down-turned portion 10 is a brace rod 34 having a depending lug 35 at its free end, said lug'35 being adapted to fit within the aperture 33, thereby holding the bracket arm 10 atright angles to the doorway and to the side of the car 5. The keeper 32 is provided with a cam surface 36 and with a vertical wall 37 which extends along one side and one end of the keeper, the other side and end thereof being open and unobstructed. A somewhat similar keeper 32 is provided with a wall 37 which is the same as the wall 37 except'that it is'oppositely disposed with relation to the kee er. In other words, the keepers 32 and 32 might be termed right and left keepers, the outside one being the f right and the inside one being the left. By releasing the brace rod 34 from the full-line position shown in Fig. 2, the bracket arm and brace rod may be swung into the dotted-line position, and said brace rodmay have its retaining lug 35 enter the aperture 33 of the left hand keeper, whereby the holder 13 will be held within thecar, tact with external way is avoided.

The sleeve 9 may be easily liftedfrom the pivot 8, and transferred to similar so that danger of conobjects along the railpivot, not shown, on the opposite side of the car or of the door, so that only the one attachment; consisting of the members 9, 10, 10, 12, 13 and 34; sides of the car when transferred as suggested. Obviously, this attachment can be placed on the pivot 8, in the broken line position, and may then be swung in the fullis necessary for both line position, and in thus.. applying the attachment', the rod 34 is swung into such. position that the retaining lug 35 rests against the cam surface 36, the free end of the rod 34 resting against the wall 37, and by pushing the arm 10' into its full-line position, the lug 35 will be forced over the cam surface and along the wall 37 until it comes into engagement with the aperture'33. In order to assist the cam surface 36 in raising the end of the rod 34, the arm 10 may be raised slightly on; the pivot 8, by the. operator.

For the purpose of releasing the retaining 1 lug 35 from 'thev-aperture 33, I have pro- 30 vided a hand lever 38 having a handle 39 on one end, an upstanding lug 40 on its other end and beingpivoted to the car at 41. Obviously, by pressing downward on the handle 39, the lug40will come into'contact with the retaining lug35 and lift it out of engagement with the aperture 33, so that the mail bag holder may be swung into the car. Obviously, I may construct the rod'34 of such material and dimensions, that its 99 free end may be raised without raising the other members of the attachment. For inv stance, it may be constructed of a flat resili-, ent bar of metal, so that it may be swung upward by the action of the lever 38 and by the cam surface 36.

I may construct the several elements of the supporting medium of any proper material; as, for instance; I may construct the shank 15 of metal, leather, rawhide, fiber or 100 composition, while the enlargement thereof and the neck 18 may be of the same material as the shank, or they may be of rubber or of fiber and rubber combined; the principal requisites thereof being comparative lightness and a high degree of toughness.

In operation, considering the car to be moving rightward, the traveling mail bag holder 13 passes over the stationary holder, while the neck 18 of the stationary support ing medium is caught in the slot 14 of the traveling mail bag holder. It will be seen, therefore, that the mail bags may be exchanged, by the apparatus described, while the car moves at a high rate of speed. It will also be seenthat, by placing one mail bag andits supporting medium in the lefthand slot of the stationary holder, and the other mail bag and supporting medium in the right-hand slot of the traveling supporter, said mail bags could be exchanged if the car were traveling in the'direct-ion opposite to that specified in the foregoing.

It is obvious that I have provided an ap- -paratus which is fully capable of attaining the foregoing objects, and in a thoroughly practical and efficient manner.

'I do not limit my invention to the exact details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as specified and illus- 139 t-rated, but my' invention may only be limited by a reasonable interpretation of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a mail bag serving apparatus, a

bracket carrying an upstanding pivot and adapted to be secured to a car door post, a movable bracket having a sleeve adapted to be fitted onto the pivot and to be moved vertically thereon and to be applied thereto and removed therefrom without obstruction, said movable bracket carrying a mail bag holder and having a brace rod pivoted thereto, a detent secured in fixed relation to the first said bracket and-adapted to engage the free end of the brace rod for retaining the mail bag holder in operative position and being releasable therefrom so that the mail bag holder may be swung into the car, substantially as shown and specified.

2. In a mail bag serving apparatus, an arm pivotally connected to the side of a mail car door and carrying a mail bag holder, a brace rod pivotally connected to the arm and carrying a retaining lug on its free end, a keeper in fixed relation to the car door and having a cam surface for raisretaining lug for guiding it into engagey ment with 'the keeper and means associated with the keeper and the retaining lug, whereby the retaining lug may be lifted out of engagement with the keeper.

' 4. In a mail bag serving apparatus, a stationary mail bag holder pivotally connected to a stationary prop and having means associated therewith for adjusting the opera tive position of the holder relative to the r0 p Iii testimony whereof I have-signed my name to this specification in the-presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM M. SMITH. VViinesses:

W. M. TAYLOR, S. E. NEUMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

